Hospitals, Health IT

Intermountain taps American Well to expand on-demand telehealth

The service, dubbed Intermountain Connect Care, will go online early next year.

Utah’s Intermountain Healthcare is teaming with telehealth service provider American Well to build and operate a 24/7 mobile and Web-based, on-demand video telemedicine portal for consumers. The service, dubbed Intermountain Connect Care, will go online early next year, the two partners said.

This partnership is intended to extend Intermountain’s brand, offer convenience to patients, make clinicians more efficient and take pressure off of emergency departments.

“Organizations who have implemented online care services like this have been able to provide appropriate care for certain conditions for the majority of patients using the service,” Intermountain CMO Dr. Brent Wallace said in a press release. “For some, this service may help patients confirm that they need to go visit their doctor, an urgent care clinic or the emergency room.”

Intermountain and American Well will charge a flat fee of $49 per visit. Initially, Connect Care will be limited to treating and dispensing advice for low-acuity conditions, though Intermountain said it hopes to be able to connect patients to primary care physicians, medical specialists, dietitians and other professionals.

Physicians providing care over the American Well network will be able to prescribe medications to remote patients. Visits involving existing Intermountain patients will be documented in the organization’s electronic health record, and all Connect Care customers will be able to receive visit summaries by e-mail.

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